1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns a steam iron and, more specifically, it relates to a portable steam iron having a handle and a water reservoir which are detachable from an iron main body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ordinary steam irons generally comprise a soleplate perforated with a plurality of steam emission apertures and a steam generating chamber in communication therewith, a water reservoir secured to the soleplate and in communication with the steam generating chamber by way of a water dropping channel, a housing secured to the upper part of the reservoir and a handle securely attached to the upper surface of the housing (refer, for example, to U.S. Pat. No. 3,369,103).
However, the steam iron of such a type in which the soleplate, reservoir, housing and handle are secured respectively in an integrated structure is not suitable for portable use and is also inconvenient in use since water has to be supplied to the reservoir while holding the rather heavy iron body.
In a steam iron proposed for improving the foregoing disadvantage of feeding water to the reservoir, the reservoir has been made detachable to the iron main body so that water may be fed to the reservoir in the detached state. Although this improved structure can facilitate the water feeding, it still lacks in the aspect of portability. In addition, since the reservoir is left as is after use, i.e., attached to in the iron main body, water remaining in the reservoir will flow downwardly to the steam generating chamber to cause undesired corrosion therein (refer, for example, to Japanese Published Examined Utility Model Application No. 16153/1975).
Further, there has been proposed an iron equipped with a spray device wherein a handle provided with a spray device is detachably mounted to an iron main body. The body is adapted to be stored in the hollow portion of the handle to reduce the entire size of the iron (refer, for example, to Japanese Published Unexamined Utility Model Application No. 157495/1983). However, although this iron can spray cold water to the matter to be pressed, it can not conduct efficient pressing work while jetting out high temperature steam.